Chapter 199

Chapter 199: Mysterious Pearl

Outside the bug nest, every drop of blood resembled a vast lake, and the pressure was incredibly overwhelming.

“This is supreme magical power!” Hongmo Xi’s expression turned grave as he growled, “Who did Hongmo Jiu bring in? Only the Cold Armor Emperor could achieve such feats, or perhaps a Master from the All-Manifestation Realm used a special method to arrive.”

Hongmo Zhengfang paced back and forth, then suddenly turned to the entrance of the bug nest and said, “I will go set up the magical items and treasures. Senior Brother, you should have a few array maps, right?”

“I do have a few. Here are the array maps and formation disks for the Sky-Home Exorcism Mantra and the Instant Eternal Forbidden Array. We’ll need eighty-six magical items and twenty-eight magical treasures to maintain the array’s core, plus some Blood Jade Miao Jade.”

“Don’t just sit there! If you want to live, you need to gather the materials quickly!” Hongmo Zhengfang shouted at Qian Qiu Yue, knowing that no one understood the imminent peril better than him and Hongmo Xi.

Qian Qiu Yue pulled out twenty magical items and three magical treasures. These were her spoils from raiding the Li Family cultivators and the Jade Symbol Sect members. The situation was indeed dire, and she could only present these to alleviate their urgent need.

Hongmo Zhengfang and Hongmo Xi quickly added to the count; even with their riches, gathering so many magical items and treasures was not easy!

Magical items were the easier part to find, but magical treasures were exceedingly rare!

Hongmo Xi emptied his Storage Artifact and collected eighteen magical treasures, still ten short of twenty-eight.

Hongmo Zhengfang looked at Li Hui with eager eyes.

Li Hui shrugged, “What are you looking at me for? I only have artifacts. I planned to let you loot our fellow disciples to snag a little profit, but who knew you’d all be so friendly?”

“Ugh! Senior Brother, this is a tough job,” Hongmo Zhengfang shook his head in regret, implying that if Hongmo Xi didn’t wake up, all the good stuff in his pocket would go to him.

“Outrageous!” Hongmo Xi cursed. He had no way to deal with this situation, managing to barely gather enough magical items, but reaching twenty-eight magical treasures was utterly impossible.

The brothers exchanged frustrated glares, and they had no choice but for Hongmo Xi to suffer a loss, using Blood Jade Miao Jade to make up for the lack, while also needing to take out several artifacts for rapid transformation.

If they wanted to turn artifacts into magical treasures, the transformation rate was roughly around thirty percent.

That meant they would need at least fifty artifacts to create ten magical treasures. This was a considerable number, and without the gains from raiding the Underground Cavern’s formation cores, they wouldn’t even have a chance.

“Damn! There isn’t enough Blood Jade Miao Jade; we need at least eight hundred watts,” Hongmo Zhengfang stared wide-eyed. “Hurry up! If we don’t move quickly, we’ll all be dead. If we could use the Slave Seal to escape, my Senior Brother and I would have already vanished.”

Got it! Li Hui and Qian Qiu Yue exchanged glances, realizing they couldn’t remain uninvolved. They quickly started rummaging through their belongings.

Blood Jade Miao Jade was relatively rare, and even if Hongmo Xi and Hongmo Zhengfang expended all their wealth, they would still lack over a hundred watts. In the end, they had no choice but to use five times the amount of Miao Jade to fill the gap.

Once they gathered the materials, Hongmo Zhengfang rapidly darted out of the entrance to set up the great array, while the twenty-one bug nests surrounding them served perfectly as array platforms.

Li Hui touched his nose, thinking, “It hurts! It really hurts! What comes quickly must go just as fast! So all that labor collecting artifacts was just to set up a formation for these brothers. And that Miao Jade, with the Li Family cultivators and Dugu Yi’s subordinates being well-off, I didn’t even have time to count the treasure before handing it all over!”

His wealth had significantly diminished; anyone would find it disheartening. But for the sake of survival, it was nothing.

After two incense sticks worth of time, Hongmo Zhengfang returned, covered in blood and exuding a menacing aura. He said grimly, “The blood sea pressure is rising; soon it will create blood energy. It seems it will take four to five days before it transforms into Blood Surge. I need to quickly elevate into the Bosa realm, or I will still face calamity.”

“I need to accelerate my recovery too,” Hongmo Xi’s expression mirrored his concern.

Li Hui felt a tremor in his heart, realizing he had underestimated the dilemma they were facing, when Qian Qiu Yue said, “Junior Brother, bring out the Purple Essence Divine Water. The first elevation is disrupted; the second elevation requires more.”

“Okay!”

Hongmo Zhengfang took the Purple Essence Divine Water, helping Hongmo Xi find a place to cultivate. The bug nest’s structure was quite suitable for withstanding heavy pressure.

Li Hui guarded Qian Qiu Yue, setting up the Yin-Yang Nine Heads. Having finished, he passed the time by taking out thirty-six fist-sized pearls, laying them out to examine one by one while thinking, “Goodness, these are quite substantial. Their surfaces are smooth and lustrous, and after so many years under the great formation’s confinement, they bear no damage, indicating they are extraordinary. The Cold Armor Emperor calls them Mysterious Water Pearls; they must be treasures from the water element. But what are they useful for?”

At that moment, Guang Jin spoke up, “Young Master, hurry and separate the Soul Nourishing Water from the mushroom roots. I can finally sense the soul waves of the hydrangea.”

“Oh?”

Li Hui quickly took out the mushroom roots, squeezing them hard to express the Soul Nourishing Water. As soon as he obtained a ball the size of a baby fist, the Mysterious Water Pearl began to shimmer.

“Puff…” The mushroom roots deflated like deflated balloons, instantly shriveling, and over a hundred lumps of silver liquid floated up towards the Mysterious Water Pearls.

“Eh?” Li Hui was taken aback, gathering the silver liquid together. To his surprise, the Bamboo Box trembled slightly, and the talisman brush meant to aid the hydrangea’s rebirth flew out, darting like lightning towards a Mysterious Water Pearl.

A remarkable scene unfolded; the brush integrated into the pearl without any obstruction. From the outside, only a tiny shadow could be seen through the pearl.

Guang Jin revealed his human form, looking somewhat astonished as he peered at the Mysterious Water Pearl and said, “This kind of pearl can seal spirits! It can even seal demons! If you are willing to invest, it has the potential to transform into a demon’s cave. The Soul Nourishing Water is a blend of worldly spirits and essence. It can be sent into the pearl to help the hydrangea recover, which is just as good as maintaining demon power for its protection.”

“Such benefits?” Li Hui was overjoyed, waving to send the Soul Nourishing Water into the hydrangea, which flowed into the pearl with a soft splash, behaving just like a Storage Artifact.

The Mysterious Water Pearl was not a Storage Artifact; it could only integrate worldly essence.

Its effect lay in nurturing, and by merging with spiritual objects, the properties would quickly stabilize, leaving no room for other attributes.

“Guang Jin, pick a pearl to reside in!” Li Hui, troubled by having nowhere to place the various demon types, pulled out more mushroom roots and said to Guang Jin, “Ao Chonglin and Ao Chongguang should participate too. If there are suitable spiritual objects in the box, bring them into the pearl. There may not be another chance like this.”

“Really?” Guang Jin burst into jubilant laughter, “Hahaha, fantastic! Many pieces from the Cold Armor Emperor’s belongings are fragments of the Kasyapa Bodhi tree’s fruit, perfect for nurturing the mind, and I’ll take them into the pearl immediately.”

“Humph! You’re really trying to pull something, and there’s Guang Jin’s fortune! Can’t you be less tight-fisted? You hardly act like a Buddhist protector; you’re like a miser!”

“Yeah! Guang Jin is only ever taking! Young Master, you keep busy; the little demon is out!” Guang Jin hurriedly dashed off, afraid that Li Hui would change his mind…